Reliving the past with Bay City Rollers Les McKeown

The Tartan Army are set to descend on the Park Hall Hotel, Charnock Richard this evening as Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers hit the stage.

As part of the 1970s supergroup, Les, who joined the group in 1973, shot to superstardom with the number six hit, “Remember”, quickly followed by “Shang-A-Lang”, “Summerlove Sensation” and “All Of Me Loves All Of You”, all hitting the Top Five.

Les says: “We’ve been touring since 2009 and each year it gets more and more popular.

“People get to know about the show and how fantastic it is to relive your youth so they come along and relive the past with me.”

The 57-year-old, no longer tours with the original line up but that hasn’t deterred faithful Rollers from rocking up to the gigs.

“I’ve got hundreds of thousands of people on my Facebook and they’re always posting how much they’ve enjoyed the show so it’s a nice, happy little world I live in.

“It’s great fun doing the tours and being able to sing songs that made me famous back in the 70s with the other guys. Without the fans you’ve got nothing so it’s a symbionic relationship, they need me and I need them so let’s get together and make some fun.”

Dubbed the tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh, Bay City Rollers were heralded as one of the biggest groups since the Beatles when they burst onto the scene .

The current tour recreate the sound of the Rollers complete with the iconic tartan image of the rollers,

So is there a Rollers Reunion on the cards?

Les says, “The original band was great in its day but then we got so famous we began to hate each other - I don’t know why? - we have tried to get back together a variety times but it just isn’t the right time at the moment.

“I’ve got a whole suitcase of olive branches and I’d like to extend those olive branches and say let’s get back together and rock the world again for a few years. The fans would just love to see Les, Eric, Woody, Allen and Derek together again because everyone has their favourite roller so I’m sure they would enjoy seeing them on stage again.”

The tour is set to continue around the UK until returning to Preston on November 9.

“All the songs are kind of favourites but the big hits really get the place rocking.

“At the end of the show we do Shangalang and Bye Bye Baby which usaully sends people over the top.”